Airship mooring mast



Nov. 27, 1928.

- M. Q. CORBETT AIRSHIP moonme MAST Filed April 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1N VENTOR Q-Lflkbaff' A TTO NE) MW m CORBETT AIRSHIP MOORING MAST Nov. 2 7, l 8.

Filed April 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- [N VEN TOR ah. Q. Corajj Patented Nov. 27, 1928 MATT a. scanner,

OF DAYTON, OHIO.

AIBSHI]? MOORING MAST.

Application filed. April 24, 1925. Serial No. 25,686.

This invention relates to an airship moormg mast for rigid, non-rigid, or sem1-r1g1d airships andthe' like.

One of the principal objects of the inven tion consists in providing a roast to which the airship is secured at or about its center of resistance, for the purpose of reducing the movementof a moored ship to the minimum; Another important object consists in the provision of a swing or cradle type mooring .mast, which allowsthe whole ship freedom to roll, pull or surge ahead with respect to the mast, and especially advantageous 1n this connection is the provision of weights suspended.

Still another object o sists in the provision of f the invention cona mast of the character described which has rollers reniovably mounted on the base thereof, to serve in the rotation of the mast as a whole in the shifting of the moored ship. The wheels are removable so that any two wheels may be left on oppositely disposed the mast when the others are removed, to permit the transport-.

ing of the mast from place to place. Wherever the 'mastis to beused, a foot bearing is fixed in the ground on which the mast is arranged to rotate, and any'wheels which have been removed are replaced. v

. The foregoing and other-objects of the invention are broughtout in the following 1 specification, wherein reference is made to the accompanying vention.

F1g. 1"1s a having an airship of moored thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1, and 'Fig. 3 IS an enlarged fragmentary showingthe arrangement of mooring plugs provided on the ship.

Fig. dis a plan view. 01 mg mast.

drawings illustrating the infront view of a mooring mast constructedin accordance w1th theinventlon,

the dirigible type detail the base of the nicer- Fig; 5 isa plan view particularly in section showing the grip mooring mast.

per member of the .tremities of the bars 13. Th

The inast comprises a base 10 arranged to. rotate on a central foot bearing 11, anchored by stakes 12 into the ground wherever the mast is stationed. The base consists of cries crossed bars 13 secured at their common in'tersection to the foot bearing 11, and having an upright center post 1%, to which sloping truss bars 15 are attached similarly to the bars 13, and extended from the top of the post 14 to the outer extremities of the bars 13. The entire base is universally tiltable on the bearing 11 as the latter is of a self aligning and adjustable character. This is to accommodate the roclring of the base in the movement of the wheels 16 over uneven ground. The wheels 16 are attached to the outer ends of the bars 18 by any suitable form of detachable connection indicated at 17. It will be seen that the wheels provide easy turning movement for the mast in the shiftingof the moored ship, and when one or two of the wheels are removed leaving at least two wheels in place on opposite sides of the mast, portability is afforded when the mast is detached from its central bearing, and is to be transported to some other place on the field.

The base 10 supports a vertical l! frame consisting of two oppositely inclined spars 18 connected at their lower ends to the top of the cent-ral post ll. The spars 18 have a swing cable 19 strung therebetween, the cable 19 having sufficient lack between the spars to permit of from eight to ten feet of free motion of the ship in rolling, pulling and surging when moored. The cable preferably extends down from the ends of the spars 18 for connection with the base 10 at the outer exspars .18 are braced by guy wires 20 and 21 extending between the spars 18 and the outer ends of the bars 13 on four sides of the mooring mast. There are also criss-crcssed wires 22 and23 extending between the spars 18 below the swing cable 19 and attached to the spars 18, suit-ably at common points with the wires 20 and 21. The spars 18 diverge sur'iiciently so their free ends extend out laterally an ap preciable distance on opposite sides of the moored ship 2d, and afford moment arms to communicate rotation to the mooring mast in the shifting of the ship in the wind. The ships car 25 has halyards 26 detachably connected' therewith which extend from the extremities of the spars 18 on opposite sides of the ship. These halyards are connected to the car when the ship is moored and may be released from the car by a person therein, preparatory to taking oil. In a cross wind, the force of the wind tending to' shift the ship to head into the wind will communicate a pull on either of the halyards 26, to rotate the mooring mast coincident with the shifting of the ship. Thus any possible injury to the envelope of the ship by contact with one of the spars is positively prevented, and one of the gravest dangers incident to the mooring of a ship of this character is avoided.

The ship 2% has a pair of mooring plugs 27 and 28 strung from cables 29 at the bow on the underside of the hull, at a point termined as the center oi resistance of the ship and its car. in heading into the wind the ship is maintained on an oven heel since wind forces on both sides 01 the point of attachment of the ship to the mast are substantially evenely balanced. The violent pitching and surging ordinarily experienced in a heavy wind is practically entirely dispensed with by virtue of this method of mooring. There is no likelihood of the ship tearing loose from its mooring, since all 01'? the loads on the mooring are even and can be more or less accurately anticipated.

The moorin plugs 27 and 28 are arranged for separate engagement in a grip fitting 30 provided at the middle of the swing cz ble 19. The grip fitting may be of any well hill). .1 form, as shown in Fig. 5, capable oi quick release through the medium of a line 31, e:-:- tended from the grip fitting down to the ground. One of the plugs, as 27, is always under the control oi persons in the car by a landing line 82 attached to the bottom of the plug 27, and extending bacl: to the car as shown in Fig. 2-. The other plug 28 is engaged in the grip fitting into which it is entered on the mooring 01"" the ship. The program on landing is to drop the landing line to which a line threaded through the grip fitting by a ground man is attached. The ground men then draw in on the line until the plug is secured in the grip fitting. In the illustration in Fig. l the line 33 has served this purpose. t is connected by a quickly releasable ring with the mooring plug and is detached from the plug after the mooring of? the ship preparatory to taking oil". The thought is to enable taking oil without the assistance or ground men, and this is accomplished merely by strin ing the li 0 J1 back to the car 25 at which point it may be pulled by a person in the car on taking oil. Precautions are always taken to have one of the plugs connected by a landing line to the car. In the illustration while the plug 28 served in the particular instance shown for mooring the ship, the plug 2'? will serve the next time, at which time the landing line 82 will be dropped and the procedure followed above outlined, in threading the plug 2'? into the grip fitting. At that time the plug 28 will have a landing line attached thereto and strung back to the car 25.

The swing cable 19 affords freedom of movement in the rolling, pulling ELDC. surging of the moored ship. In order to avoid the possibility of injury to the envelope of the ship, a pair of pneumatic buffer balls 34 are mounted rotatably on the cable 19 on opposite sides of the grip fitting 30. These balls are free to turn as the ship rides onto and oil the hull with either the cable or the grip fitting. The freedom of motion afforded by the swing cable is gradually restrained by the suspension of weights 35 on a cable 36, suitably attached to the grip fitting 30. Inasmuch as this is at the mid point of the cable, it is ap. parent that the initial movement of the moored ship from normal is less restrained than is the case when the ship. approaches more and more the maximum point to which it is capable of movement with respect to the.

mast. This is due to the fact that the weights havea greater moment arm the farther the swing cable is moved from a position oi normal suspension. This method of dampening the movementsofthe moored ship has been found to be of decided advantage over the old method of positive mooring and avoids the danger of a ship tearing loose from its mooring there are no sudden and unprecedented loads on the mooring cables.

I claim:

1. A mooring mast for airships comprising a support, a swing therein, means for attach ii an airship thereto, and butter means rotaably mounted on said swing to cushion the ships hull on said swing from movement rela tive thereto. 7

2. A. mooring mast for airships comprising a support, a swing therein having means for attaching an airship thereto, means to cushion the ships hull from movement relative to said swing, and means suspended from the middle of said swing serving to restrain the movement of the ship by slackening the movement oi" said swing. I

3. in combination, a rotatableV frame, a swing suspended therein having {means for detachably securing an airship and connections il'Olil the sides of said ship to the sides of said J frame to communicate a turning movement thereto, in the shifting Y of the moored ship; 7 i r r 4:. In combination, a rotatable mooring mast provided with a pair of spaced uprights, a swing cable attached thereto, meansfor detachably securing an airship cable, means contacting with the airship at spaced points on both sides of the vertical axis of said airship providing a moment arm to turn said mast, and a connection from a point on said ship intermediate its ends to said means, for communicating rotation to the mast in the shifting of the moored ship.

mast and prevent the engagement of the 5. In combination, a mooring mast, an airship to be moored thereto, a grip fitting on the mast, a pair of mooring plugs either of which is adapted for engagement with said grip fit ing, one of said mooring plugs having a landing line leading always to the ships car when the other plug is engaged with the grip fitting and vice versa.

6. In combination, a mooring mast comprising a swing support, a grip fitting in the middle of said swing, an airship having a plug to be engaged in said grip fitting, and dampening weights suspended from said grip fitting.

7. In a portable airship mooring mast, the combination of a base, rollers on said base, and a V frame mounted on said base having a slack cable swing fixed at its ends to the spaced ends of the V frame for mooring an airship therein, and connections from the op posite sides of the ship to the swing to communicate rotation to the mooring mast in the shifting or" the moored ship.

8. In a mooring mast the combination of a swing support, a pair of butter rollers serving as a'cushion between the swing support and the hull of an airship moored thereto, and a grip fitting between said rollers to receive a plug of said airship for mooring the latter.

9; In a mooring mast the combination of a swing support, a pair of butter rollers serving as a cushion'between the swing support and the hull of an airship moored thereto, a

grip fitting between said rollers to receive a plug of said airship for mooring the latter, and counter-'weignts suspended from said grip fitting for dampening the movement of the moored ship.

wheels mounted on the outer ends of said crisscross members to permit rotation of said mast on said bearing, said wheels being removable one or more at a time, leaving at least two diametrically opposed wheels to serve as carriers for the frame to afford portability.

11. In an airship mooring mast, the combination with an airship and means for mooring the same, rotatable pneumatic bufier means for cushioning any impact of the ship with the mast.

12. In an airship mooring mast, the combination with an airship and means for mooring the same, rotatably mounted bufier balls on said mast for cushioning any impact of the ship with the mast, while permitting movement with respect thereto. 7

13. A portable mooring mast for lighterthan-air craft comprising a unitary movable support, a swing therein, bufier means rotatably and centrally mounted on said swing providing a cushion for said craft and means interconnecting said buffer means serving to attach said craft to said swin 14. A portable mooring mast for aircraft comprising a rotatable tubular cone-shaped support, a swing therein having means for at taching an airship thereto at its center of resistance, means to cushion the ships hull from moven'ient relative to said swing and means suspended from said attaching means to gradually restrain the movement of the ship by resisting the movement of the swing.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature.

MATT Q. CORBETT. 

